Urban schools reflect their surroundings. Urban areas are becoming characterized by great diversity in race and class as the racial and ethnic makeup of the United States changes. In most urban schools, where the majority of students are minorities and large numbers live in poverty, the teacher attrition rate ranges from 30% to 50% within the…

Despite the benefits associated with teacher development through participation in communities of practice, many questions about these groups remain unanswered. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine a group of elementary physical education teachers as a community of practice whose objective was to develop and disseminate…

Aiming to elucidate the relationship between social capital and intergenerational practice within mentoring, this article presents data from a case study of the School Volunteer Program in Western Australia. Drawing on situated learning theory and the concept of community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; Wenger, McDermott, &…

This paper argues that the implications of the concept of situated learning are important when developing a curriculum for initial teacher education (ITE). It describes and analyses the use of a model of ITE designed to stimulate discussions promoting the development of professional craft knowledge situated mainly in schools and to connect these…

This article outlines progress made towards education transformation in Wales. It explores the way in which tri-level reform is guiding system level change in Wales and looks at the implementation of the School Effectiveness Framework, which is at the heart of the reform process. It describes the way in which professional learning communities are…

This article highlights the blurring of boundaries as beginning teacher educators cope with the varying demands of teaching and research activities in higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. It suggests that the different forms of research and scholarly activities be made more transparent in order to support early professional learning in…

In this paper I address one question asked by teachers who teach online--"How can I build community among my learners in my class?" This paper provides an answer; in fact, it provides ten possible answers, in the form of ten models for teachers to use to build community in on-line courses. Each model has been tried and tested over ten…

This study examined the effectiveness of a bilingual/bicultural technology intervention on beginning learners of Spanish at a public university in the United States and intermediate learners of English at a public university in Mexico. This study used a quasi-experimental mixed method design and compared gains in grammar, listening, and reading…

The arts are a key developmental area in early childhood education. Subsequently, it is important that generalist teachers know how to teach suitable arts knowledge and skills. As a teacher educator, the responsibility of this falls within the author's teaching. It is her job to teach future teachers suitable arts knowledge and skills. This…

This embedded multiple-case study addressed the lack of qualitative research on the contributions of principal leadership behaviors and organizational routines in Montana's distinguished Title I schools. This study was guided by the research question, "How do principal leadership behaviors and organizational routines contribute to the high…

This study addressed the problem of chronic low student achievement in language arts at a Program Improvement 5+ school by implementing two cycles of facilitated lesson study. Using action research to facilitate and monitor change in instructional practices at a school that is currently undergoing a teacher-initiated turnaround reform effort, this…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation of 2001 increased the stakes for all schools to increase student achievement by mandating all students meet or exceed state standards by 2014. A small rural school responded 5 years ago to their failure to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) by implementing professional learning communities (PLC) as a…

Citizen science projects involve the public with scientists in collaborative research. Information and communication technologies for citizen science can enable massive virtual collaborations based on voluntary contributions by diverse participants. As the popularity of citizen science increases, scientists need a more thorough understanding of…

A teacher professional development program for in-service elementary school science teachers, the Rice Elementary Model Science Lab (REMSL), was developed for urban school districts serving predominately high-poverty, high-minority students. Teachers with diverse skills and science capacities came together in Professional Learning Communities, one…

This article investigates how the goals of participants in a video club evolved and became more shared over time. A video club brings groups of teachers together to analyze video from one another's classrooms (Sherin, 2004). The purpose of the video club the author investigates was to bring teachers together to analyze student thinking, an…